Mark Steyn: 'Events' Don't Just Happen

The Jerusalem Post ^ | January 6, 2004 | Mark Steyn

[quidnunc]

One of the most tediously over-venerated bits of political wisdom comes from the late British prime minister Harold MacMillan. It was his characteristically laconic Edwardian response as to what he feared most in the months ahead: "Events, dear boy, events."

It turns up in a gazillion books of quotations and 1,000 Fleet Street columns as if it's some brilliant insight.

It's not. It's an urbane banality. Even events come, so to speak, politically predetermined. If, for example, you have powerful public sector unions, you will be at the mercy of potentially crippling strikes. The quasi-Eastern European Britain of the 1970s was brought to a halt by a miners' strike in a way that would have been impossible in the United States.

A strike, of course, is man-made. But the best test of the political character of "events" is supposedly natural phenomena.

Six years ago this week an ice storm devastated my corner of the Eastern Seaboard. On the Vermont/New Hampshire side of the border folks were without power for a couple of days. On the Quebec side of the border some were without power for the best part of a couple of months.

Did God spot the frontier posts on His GPS monitor and decide to afflict Quebecers more? Doesn't seem likely. It's true the pictures of Montreal on the morning of the ice storm look much worse than those of Burlington, Vermont. But that's because in Montreal the streets were still clogged with uncleared snow from the previous week, thanks to the unionized municipal government's desultory approach to winter maintenance.

Here's a starker example: The two images that for me sum up the aftermath of September 11 — on the one hand, the New York firemen pounding up the stairs of the World Trade Center to rescue those in the towers; and, on the other, a fire in Mecca a few months later.

Some young Saudi girls were trying to flee a blazing school, but they were prevented from doing so by the mutaween — the religious police — who beat them with sticks and drove them back inside the building to perish in the flames. Why would they do such a thing? Because the girls, in their haste to escape the inferno, had neglected to put on their head scarves. Fifteen of them died.

It really is as basic as that: There are cultures that create civic institutions to rescue you from the fire, and there are cultures which create civic institutions to push you back in and be consumed.

Last year provided some especially salutary lessons in the political nature of "events:"

-snip-

[corkoman]

This had to be exerpted why???? I hate giving anyone market data about myself - even the J Post.

[quidnunc]

corkoman wrote; This had to be exerpted why????

It's called the federal copyright law.

I hate giving anyone market data about myself - even the J Post.

Go to SteynOnline and access the article from there.

[mvpel]

The Federal Copyright Law also has something called "section 107," which states, among other things:

the fair use of a copyrighted work, ... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright.

Take a look around here on Free Republic, and you'll notice quite a bit of criticism, comment, and news reporting going on.

[gcruse]

LOL Now, there's a ping list I'm happy to be on!!!

[quidnunc]

mvpel wrote: The Federal Copyright Law also has something called "section 107," which states, among other things: the fair use of a copyrighted work, ... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. Take a look around here on Free Republic, and you'll notice quite a bit of criticism, comment, and news reporting going on.

Free Republic doesn't qualify for fair use: That precedent has been established in federal court.

[polemikos]

quidnunc is one of "those" who does things just to annoy people.

[gcruse]

Harold MacMillan couldn't have been more wrong. "Events" are the least of it.

What MacMillan should have said he was afraid of were, "Consequences, dear boy, consequences."
We know what those are, right?  It is the difference in these that dictated attacking Iraq instead of Saudi
Arabia or North Korea.

[expatpat]

Hey, stop flaming quiddy -- he's a good guy. However, quidnunc, I also resent having to go through that palaaver to see the rest of the article when it's not necessary.

[quidnunc]

seamole wrote: In the 9th Circuit, which I'm sure is your favorite. You do realize that it is legally impossible for Free Republic to ban you. Perhaps that's why you only post excerpted articles, and barely any replies to other threads: you'd hate to give the site owner any excuse to kick you out of his own home. How does it make you feel to intrude on another's private property only because you have the backing of a court? I'm honestly curious as to why someone would choose to live his life this way.

I have an idea: I'll go on about my business and you concentrate on minding your own.

I spend most of my time rummaging around on the Internet keeping abreast of current events, and when I find an interesting article I post it on several web sites.

If it is especially interesting I also post it on FR but unlike some I don't make this my sole venue.

[meyer]

Free Republic doesn't qualify for fair use: That precedent has been established in federal court.

If I'm not mistaken (and I may be), neither an admission of guilt nor a ruling took place; rather, an agreement between effected parties took place. Which means that the battle can be fought another day, hopefully in a friendlier atmosphere.

[AmishDude]

If it is especially interesting I also post it on FR but unlike some I don't make this my sole venue.

Interesting. What other venues to you like to frequent?

[wizardoz]

Steyn hits another out of the park! I want this man cloned! Quickly!

[AmishDude]

Do you think we can have a "Mark Steyn" forum along with "General Interest (Chat)" and "News/Activism"?

[altura]

I am in awe of how Steyn is able to put out so many columns and all high quality.

Hope he doesn't burn out.

[mylife]

Do you think we can have a "Mark Steyn" forum

I love the idea!!

[solitas]

Some young Saudi girls were trying to flee a blazing school, but they were prevented from doing so by the mutaween — the religious police — who beat them with sticks and drove them back inside the building to perish in the flames. ...[b]ecause the girls, in their haste to escape the inferno, had neglected to put on their head scarves. Fifteen of them died.

mutaween = filthy animals

[quidnunc]

You're blathering.

[GeronL]

How about a Totally Unused and Unnecessary Ping List?The TUUPL? we'll never pingya!

[sarasmom]

psst...
You mean there are other venues available, aside from this one?
LOL!

[AmishDude]

1. He posts an awful lot here. I mean, who has the time?
2. Seriously, what could possibly beat FR?

[Roscoe Karns]

Thanks

[AmishDude]

What was the point of that link?

[quidnunc]

seamole wrote: You're flamebaiting me, calling the moderators, and timing their response. Well, I won't call you anything rude, except maybe "lawyer".

What in the world are you taslking about?

The only time I ever hit the abuse button is to get the moderator's attention to ask him to correct some typo in the headlines of my threads that slip past me when I do my usual wretched jot of typing.

I'm perfectly capable of fighting my own battles when it's inportant enough to do so — which this little shivaree isn't.

[quidnunc]

AmishDude wrote: What was the point of that link?

I'm a retired cop.

[ConservativeConvert]

It's just too unbelievable that Steyn can be so consistently scathing, cutting right to the bone in the most satirically entertaining way almost DAILY.

[GeronL]

You've been on it for the past three years

LOL... I'm honored. really.

[Tunehead54]

I hate excerpting! Having said that I must say that there should be a comprehensive list on the "posting" page to tell you whose sites/rags we cannot post full articles from. Just remember - never end a sentence with a preposition and don't post entire articles from the LAT, WP, NBC, MSNBC and who knows how many newspapers owned by these "free speech" enthusiast commie rags ... :-(

---

SM: Please keep me on the list - Thanks!

[upchuck]

Stop unnecessary excerpting ping list.

Hey, I'm with you on this. Damned unnecessary excerpting drives me crazy. If you want to post the article then POST the article. Don't be lazy and do a half-assed job. Do it right or don't do it at all.

I rant about this because I'm stuck with a 56K dialup connection. No DSL or cable modem available where I live. So one of the things I like most about FR is the relative lack of graphics. When a FReeper unnecessarily excerpts an article I have to go to the source to read it. And the source is usually loaded down with graphics that take forever to load, pop-up ads, etc. So I endure it all the while cussing under my breath 'cause some lazy FReeper couldn't take the time to post the entire article.

Oh and while I'm ranting... those of you w/ DSL and/or cable, please have pity on us poor 56K dialup guyz. If you do have to excerpt, please link to the "printer friendly" version of the article. This version doesn't have near the graphics as the web version. Thanks!!

</rant>

[upchuck]

BUMP!!

[moodyskeptic]

Agreed, Steyn is the most prolific satirist in the world, IMHO. Almost every day, he submits another well researched and scathingly funny gem. Does he have a research staff?

[moodyskeptic]

You're right. While I have DSL, I am dialup-aware so that I don't create big files. I learned this designing web sites. I learned to always res-down images and create the smallest possible files that do the job.

For this reason I still get angry at posters who link to large images or silly animated gifs that gobble badwidth, it's a breach of protocol discipline.

Yes, you're right about linking to printer-friendly pages. It's about empathy and web etiquette.

[Ruth A.]

That, my dear AmishMan, is a brillant idea! I second.

[thoughtomator]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/keyword/excerptmadness

[upchuck]

Thanks and BUMP!

[Stultis]

I'm stuck with a 56K dialup connection. No DSL or cable modem available where I live. So one of the things I like most about FR is the relative lack of graphics. When a FReeper unnecessarily excerpts an article I have to go to the source to read it. And the source is usually loaded down with graphics that take forever to load, pop-up ads, etc. So I endure it all the while cussing under my breath 'cause some lazy FReeper couldn't take the time to post the entire article.

You don't seem to understand that all this is secondary to the importance of quidnunc making his point. Unlike you, and me, and Jim Robinson, and most freepers, quidnunc is a man (or woman) of principle, and cannot therefore be held to the accepted standards or conventions of this website he (or she) voluntarily chooses to patronize.

Actually I may have that wrong. The mass irritation quidnunc gratuitously generates is probably not "secondary," but rather part and parcel of making his (or her) point. Some "principled" people are like that.

[Stultis]

Yes, you're right about linking to printer-friendly pages. It's about empathy and web etiquette.

Sorry. I don't agree, at least unless the printer friendly page has a link back to the article's main page. The page linked should be the same page you would cite if you were formally documenting the source. Also the article's main page may have hyperlinks within the article, relevant news photos, side bars, links to related material, information on the content provider and/or homepage links that the printer friendly page often lacks.